Page 49 of Soul Bound

I nod my head at the ghost, whose face is expressionless as she watches us. Her gaze flicks from Winslow and then back to me, when she looks at me she gives me a subtle nod back. I don’t know what the movement is supposed to mean, but I get this sudden overwhelming sense of…approval?

Winslow pulls her phone out of her back pocket and flicks on the flashlight setting. Using that, she moves around the room. She flicks through some paperwork that was left scattered on the countertop off to the side of the room. I walk over to join her. “What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know.” She lifts her shoulders. “I was hoping I would get lucky and find—” She pauses, jerking the folder out from under the paperwork. “Holy shit, it’s here.”

“What’s here?”

“Thalia’s file! It’s here!” She bounces on her toes as she starts to scan through the documents. “I wanted to learn more about her since she isn’t being chatty lately. I’ve tried asking her questions about herself, but she just stares at me. Oh, look! Here!”

She thrusts a document into my hand. Thalia’s basic information is written at the top of it. Her birthdate indicates she’s only two years older than me at twenty-six. Her height and weight are there too. And at the very bottom of the page is says…

“She was a witch,” I tell Winslow.

Winslow’s two-toned eyes slam into mine. “What? She was?”

I nod. “If this paperwork is correct, then yes she was. It says she had the gift of astral projection.”

Her eyes widen and a grin breaks across her face. “That explains how she’s such a strong spirit! She’s using the gift she already had before she died.” Winslow looks back at the cabinet, but Thalia isn’t there anymore. “Now we know her baby is at least part witch.”

“I’ve suddenly found my life consumed by witches,” I muse.

Winslow’s eyes flick with humor. “I don’t think we’re that bad.”

“No.” I meet her gaze. “You’re not.”

She’s anything but bad.

I’ll admit it feels too easy that Thalia’s file was just left sitting around for us to find, but after how hard it was to get to where we are now, I’ll take the easy win.

Winslow stuffs the file into her bag along with the vial of dried blood. After slipping the blade back into her boot, she takes the flashlight from my hand and flicks it around the room like she’s looking for something, her eyes slightly narrow as she looks around the operating room.

“What are you looking for now?”

“I’ve been trying to understand how they got out with Thalia’s baby so fast without any of you seeing them escape. I mean… you guys had the building surrounded, right?”

“Right,” I confirm.

“And you found Thalia just minutes, maybe even less, after they cut the baby out…” She trails off, moving around the room. “So how did they get out without you seeing them?”

“That’s a question I’ve been wondering myself.”

“If I was an evil mastermind who experimented on women and babies, I would always be paranoid I’m going to get caught. I’d have escape plans and routes planned out in the event I needed to make a quick getaway…that’s Bad Guy 101—always have an escape plan.”

“You talk about him like he’s aBondvillain.”

“He basically is,” she scoffs. “Maybe even worse.”

Definitely worse.

The room’s temperature drops multiple degrees quickly, and I stiffen. Winslow looks relaxed as ever as she pauses in her search. “Here we go…”

The room gets colder and colder until the glass window panes on the doors and cabinets frost over. It’s just like what happened when Thalia showed up at Pruitt’s house weeks ago, but the powerful electric buzz in the air is stronger, so apparent, my wolf is snarling in my head.

My ever-calm witch is even standing straighter and bracing herself for what’s coming. “Is this Thalia?” I see my breath now when I speak.

Winslow tightens her jacket around her and moves closer to me like she’s seeking warmth. “It might be, but she’s not alone.”

16

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